Join us for the 2026 Ripped Festival on Zoom.
Monday, June 29 @ 7:00 PM Central
Back by demand and in our 18th year, we’re thrilled to celebrate short plays ripped from today’s headlines.
FEATURED WRITERS – Benjamin Benne, Darren Canady*, Liz Chidester*, John Kolvenbach, Heather Meyers*, Katarzyna Müller*, Nia Akilah Robinson, and Sharifa Yazmeen.
DIRECTION – Manny Buckley* and Elyse Dolan*.
FEATURED PERFORMERS – Audrey Billings*, Manny Buckley*, Liz Chidester*, Joslyn Jones*, James Sherman, J.G. Smith*, Sharifa Yazmeen, and more to be announced.
*Ensemble member or artistic affiliate
“This egg is impossible”
BENJAMIN BENNE (he/him) was the 2019 winner of the Blue Ink Playwriting Award for his play Alma, which had its World Premiere with American Blues and Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles) in 2022, then went on to productions at ArtsWest (Seattle), Curious (Denver), Central Square (Cambridge), The Spot (Ketchum), Chance (Anaheim), and Passage (Trenton). He has also had plays produced with Mosaic (DC), First Floor (Chicago), Portland Stage (ME), Pillsbury House (Minneapolis), Actors Theatre (Louisville), and forthcoming at Crowded Fire (San Francisco) and Boston Court (Pasadena). His plays have also been developed by the O’Neill, Ojai, Oregon Shakes, The Public, Roundabout, Primary Stages, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, and The Playwrights’ Center, among many others. He was named part of “LA Vanguardia: The Latino innovators, instigators, and power players breaking through barriers” by the Los Angeles Times and received an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama.
www.benjaminbenne.com
“Our conversations have not provided much material to know your preferences.”
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DARREN CANADY is a proud ensemble member of American Blues Theater. His work has been produced at Sound Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theatre, Aurora Theatre, the Alliance Theatre, Congo Square Theater, Horizon Theatre, London’s the Old Vic Theatre, M Ensemble, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, American Blues Theater, and others. His awards include the Alliance Theater’s Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award, Chicago’s Black Excellence Award, the Black Theatre Alliance Award, and the American Theatre Critics Association’s Osborn Award. His work has been developed at the Fremont Centre Theatre, Premiere Stages, and Playwright’s Realm. He is an alum of Carnegie Mellon University, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, The Juilliard School. He is also an alum of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, the Playwright’s Center’s Core Writer Group, and Midwest Dramatists Center. He currently teaches playwriting at the University of Kansas.
“We don’t know where to start”
Article inspiration here
Read the lyrics: Download PDF | Open in browser
LIZ CHIDESTER is a proud ensemble Member of American Blues Theater. American Blues credits: Always…Patsy Cline, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. Other theatre credits: Lizzie, Queen of the Mist, Always, Patsy Cline (Firebrand Theatre – Company Member), The Old Man and the Old Moon, Phantom Folktales (PigPen Theatre Co./KC Rep), Así Canta Federico (Teatro La Tea NYC), Sundown, Yellow Moon (Raven Theatre), High Fidelity (Refuge Theatre Co.), Big River, Pumpboys and the Dinettes (Theatre at the Center), Frederick (Chicago Children’s Theatre) Ring of Fire (Mercury Theatre) Stupid F***ing Bird (Sideshow Theatre Co). Liz is an award winning singer/songwriter, actor, and teaching artist originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Chris Jones from the Chicago Tribune called her “one of the most truthful actors in this city.” She was a teaching artist for almost a decade at the Old Town School of Folk Music. She now resides in NYC and has performed in various cities throughout Europe and South America. www.lizandthelovelies.com
“I thought I was among business travelers.”
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JOHN KOLVENBACH – Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight (with Jim Ortlieb) will play at the Edinburgh Fringe in August. The show premiered in LA and at Harbor Stage, then played at American Blues in Chicago, in Paris and at the Huntington Theatre in Boston. On the West End: Love Song (with Cillian Murphy, Olivier nomination, Best New Comedy, directed by John Crowley) and On an Average Day (with Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan, also directed by Mr. Crowley.) Love Song premiered at Steppenwolf, directed by Austin Pendelton. It has been produced in New York, Zurich, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Seoul and Rome. There have been over fifty productions in the U.S. Average Day was produced in Los Angeles by VS. and in Chicago by VS. and Route 66. Average Day has been produced in Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Lisbon. Goldfish premiered at South Coast Repertory, then at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, directed by Loretta Greco. The play was done in repertory with Mrs. Whitney, which was directed by the author. Reel to Reel received its premiere at the Magic. Sister Play received its premier at Harbor Stage Company and at the Magic, both productions directed by the author. Other plays include: Fabuloso, (Premiered at WHAT, subsequent productions in San Juan and Zurich, in Spanish and Swiss German) Gizmo Love (with Pedro Pascal at WHAT) Bank Job (Amphibian Stages) and Marriage Play or Half ‘n Half ‘n Half (Merrimack Rep.) Film: Clear Winter Noon, an original screenplay is in preproduction and will be directed by Christopher Zalla. It was selected for the Blacklist. All the Time We Have is also in preproduction and will be directed by the author.
“My calculations should have locked in to Washington DC…”
Article inspiration here
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HEATHER MEYERS has been a proud ensemble member of American Blues Theater since 1996. She’s a stage manager, director, writer, and educator. Many thanks to friends & family for their continued support.
“Don’t, do NOT, under ANY circumstances, call me Da Pope.”
Article inspiration here
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KATARZYNA MÜLLER is a proud artistic affiliate of American Blues Theater. She was born in Poland and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. English is her second language. Recently she adapted The Last Wide Open for Chicago audiences (book and lyrics: Audrey Cefaly; music: Matthew M. Nielson). The world premiere (dir. Gwendolyn Whiteside) enjoyed a critically acclaimed, sold out run at American Blues Theater. Kathy also writes for other media. Her short screenplay, Again (Znovu), adapted from her 2022 Ripped Festival play, has been recognized internationally: best first-time screenwriter, Košice International Film Festival; runner-up, Polish International Film Festival; runner-up, Bushwick Film Festival; finalist, HollyShorts (an Oscar-qualifying festival); finalist, Big Apple Film Festival; official selection, Pasadena International Film Festival; among others. In addition to her original writing, Kathy also works as a script consultant in theater and film. Her favorite consulting experiences include: Alcove New Play Development at Lucille Lortel Theatre and Berlin Independent Film Festival. BA, PhD, University of Chicago.
“I’d love to know if Limmie sung on his breaks as a security guard”
Article inspiration here
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NIA AKILAH ROBINSON (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. Productions: Soho Rep U.S. Off Broadway Premiere (2025 New York Times Critics Pick), NextStop Theatre (2026 Helen Hayes Recommended), Co-Pro: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company & Company One Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Theatre503, Theatre Exile, and The Hearth. Her work has been seen and developed with Nashville Repertory Theatre (Ingram New Works Project), Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Group, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Waterwell, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Urbanite, and New Georges. Nia has been a MacDowell Fellow, Travis Bogard Eugene O’Neill Foundation Fellow, and a writer for PEN America and EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (short play). She has had residencies at NYSAF and The Pocantico Center through YoungArts. Nia’s work has been featured at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Fire This Time Festival, and the 48th Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Nia has been awarded 1st Place for the 2026 Blue Ink Award for playwriting, the 2023 A is For Playwriting Contest, the Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Writing Scholarship, a Miranda Family Fund Commission, and the NYSCA Grant (CCCADI). She was shortlisted for the 2023 Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award. And Nia is a member or alumna of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, I-73 at Page 73, The Orchard Project NYC Greenhouse, The Wish Collective, and TheBlackHERthePen. Education: Yale (DGSD- MFA Playwriting Candidate) & Juilliard (Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program).
“I once believed I could be anything.”
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SHARIFA YAZMEEN (she/her) is a trans Arab-American director, actor, and playwright. She has completed directing fellowships with The Drama League, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Manhattan Theatre Club, Geva Theatre, and was a Eugene O’Neill national directing fellow. Yazmeen’s playwriting focuses on the intersection of Queer and Arab identities. Her plays have been published in Overheard, a collection of monologues by and for TNB2S+ artists and The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays. Her play Close to Home was distinguished by the American Theatre Wing at the annual Antoinette Gala, and was recently included on the 2023 Kilroy’s list. Yazmeen was honored as the inaugural recipient of the SCDF Barbara Whitman Award in 2021 for her work in directing. She holds a MFA in Directing from Brown/Trinity Rep. Sharifayazmeen.com
Chicago’s original – Est. 2009
HISTORY – Our Ripped: The Living Newspaper Project began in 2009 with a series of staged readings of short plays based on the 1930s WPA era program “The Living Newspaper” and Federal Writers’ Project, enabling artists such as Ralph Ellison, Susan Glaspell, Zora Neale Hurston, Eugene O’Neill, Studs Terkel, and Richard Wright. Since our inaugural 2009 launch, we’ve presented 25 events and utilized 700+ artists that feature short plays ripped from today’s headlines.